Archive of Our Own ^beta

Cody yelped as a loud boom filled his ears, he hated storms. He felt himself shaking, attempting to stay quiet so he didn’t not wake up Chef or Chris. When he was back at his actual place, his mum used to call him names and threaten to hit him, and he knows they would never do that but he still fears that there is a chance of it happening. The storm got worse, the flashing was closer and it was louder. Cody bit down on his pillow to stop himself from screaming or crying, he curled up in his blanket and shook like a leaf in heavy wind. 

BOOM!

Chef woke up to a loud scream filling the house. He instantly got out of bed and ran down the hall to Cody’s room, making sure the kid was alright. “Kid?” Chef pushed the door open and looked around the room, panicking when he couldn’t see Cody, but then something shifted from under the blanket on his bed. “Kid you there?” He said in a softer voice, slowly walking over to the bed and just stared at the lump on it. “Y-yeah everything’s g-good!” Cody tried to not sound scared, but it didn’t work. He then burst into tears as another crash of lightning happened. 

Then it clicked, he had astraphobia. Chef sighed and carefully sat down next to the lump. “Kid, are you able to come out from the blanket?” He heard a small no and something else that he didn’t catch. “Kid, it’s okay. You’re safe while I’m here..” Chef placed his hand on top of the lump, but then pulled it back as a sharp flinch and yelp erupted. “Don’t hurt me.” The kid was repeating over and over, his voice a sad whisper which broke Chef’s heart. “Kid I’m not gonna hurt you, please come from under the blanket.” He said again. Smiling a bit when he saw the blanket lift up, Cody peaked his head out, Chef frowned at his red, tear streaked face, “I didn’t mean to wake you up..” He said, Chef just shrugged it off and pulled Cody into a side hug, allowing the kid to calm down and fall asleep. 

Bonus scene in the mall: “Hey kid.” Chef watched Cody turn his head towards him, “Yeah dad?” He smiled. “Remember last night?” Cody frowned and nodded, “Well you see these? They are noise cancelling headphones.” Chef showed Cody a blue pair of headphones. His eyes sparkled at the metallic blue, causing Chef to chuckle. “They block out noise and such, so I thought you can use these whenever there is a storm or yelling or such.” Cody smiled and hugged Chef, “Yessss thank you!”